A majority of wind damage from hurricanes occurs with single family residential homes, and the majority of these homes are six years or older. It is estimated that approximately 60% of the hurricane-induced damage and losses occur to the roofs, including loss of roof shingles and underlayment. A major source of roof damage is the failure of asphalt single roofs from moderately strong winds. A majority of these failures has been linked to the tendency of shingle adhesive tabs (tabs) to prematurely unseal, with time as the roof ages. There is a high likelihood that roofs 6 years old and older would have unsealed tabs, which are directly linked to failures of the roofing in strong winds.
Research has shown that as shingle roofs age, weathering effects on the shingle tabs causes the adhesive along the leading edge of the shingle to fail. This typically occurs in systemic fashion on a roof from the overlap of the vertical joints between shingles in the lower row of shingles to the nearest vertical end joint of the shingle. This results in patterns of vertical or diagonal lines of partially unsealed shingles (depending on how they are installed). Post-storm investigations have documented roof failures with similar failure patterns in the roofing as was observed in the systemic patterns of failed roofing shingles.
As a result, the loosely attached shingle tabs are susceptible to flap in the wind which produces higher wind loads on the shingle tabs and results in premature failure in high wind events. The flapping action reduces the useful life of the roofing system and cause shingles to break off and underlayment to fail. This can be a significant contribution to enabling water intrusion to occur which causes extensive damage to residential homes interior partitions and to the contents during and after hurricanes.
Currently, roofers have been known to try and use caulking guns that dispense an asphalt product, such as BLACKJACK™, and the like. Shingle manufacturers have even recommended placing a “quarter-sized” dab on the lower shingle. However, the current technique requires the roofer to have to separately dispense the “dab”, at every point, which is difficult to accomplish with a caulking gun.
In addition to the difficulty of handling the caulking gun to control volume of the material being dispensed, the gun tip requires the shingle to be bent upward (due to the size of the gun and dispensing tube), which can cause brittle shingle(s) to break, causing more damage that cannot be easily repaired.
Additionally, the caulking gun adhesive is made of a material that needs time to cure. It is applied as a tacky liquid but the adhesive does not achieve its strength until the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are evaporated and the compound hardens. This curing process can take several days to weeks depending on several factors (temperature of roof, for example). Further the roofer must be careful not to put too large a volume of the adhesive as this can lead to “blistering” of the shingle surface which causes the repair adhesive to fail prematurely.
Standard caulking guns are not intended to repair the failed sealant tabs in partially sealed asphalt shingle roofing systems. Standard caulking guns are intended to dispense large volumes (up to approximately 1 to approximately 3 oz) that generally would need to be spread using a trowel. The use of too much adhesive can cause blistering of the shingle that can prevent the sealant from taking hold and can also damage the shingle substrate.
The use of caulking guns does not allow for uniform fixes to all shingle tabs, and is time consuming for the worker doing the repairs. Also, the caulking gun use does not provide immediate feedback that the repair has worked to seal the tabs. Furthermore, the use of the caulking gun repairs is difficult to verify to prevent further problems down the road and is difficult to certify by insurance companies.
Thus, the need exists for solutions to the above problems with the prior art.